Speaker: Christina Gao
Title: Reconciling Neutrino Mass Bounds with Strongly Self-Interacting Dark Radiation
Room: 3024
Host: Markus Luty
Abstract: Cosmological measurements have dramatically improved, with recent constraints on neutrino masses (Σmν < 0.0642 eV from Planck + DESI-II BAO) approaching the lower bounds required by neutrino oscillation experiments. While not yet in tension for normal hierarchy, the viable parameter space is rapidly shrinking. Simultaneously, cosmological data shows preference for strongly self-interacting neutrinos—a property severely constrained by laboratory experiments. We present a mechanism exploiting cosmology's inability to distinguish between neutrinos and similarly-behaving dark radiation, potentially addressing this narrowing gap and other cosmological puzzles.
